The world’s most and least livable cities – Business on NBCNews.com

According to a study released this week by global consulting group Mercer, the best U.S. city to live in is Honolulu, Hawaii. However, the study reviews hundreds of cities around the world, and Honolulu ranks worse than 27 other major metropolitan areas. This includes two cities from New Zealand, four from both Canada and Australia, and more than a dozen from European countries like Switzerland and Germany.

Mercer’s 2012 Quality of Living Survey looks at the largest cities in the world and takes into account dozens of metrics, including internal stability, law enforcement effectiveness, education, crime levels and the quality of health care in the city. This year, the best city in the world to live in is Vienna, Austria. The worst city to live in is Baghdad, Iraq. Based on Mercer’s report, 24/7 Wall St. reviewed the cities with the lowest and highest quality of living.

The cities with the highest quality of living are primarily in wealthy, politically stable, central European countries. Among the 11 with the highest quality of living, three are in Switzerland, three are in Germany, and the highest-ranked city, Vienna, is in Austria. According to Slagin Pakatil, Senior Researcher at Mercer, “Overall, European cities continue to have high quality of living as a result of a combination of increased stability, rising living standards and advanced city infrastructures.”